Crescendo
by vllybll120
Summary: Life after Conrad and Belly get married. With all the ups and downs can they make it through? Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of his slow, relaxed breathing. I rolled my head to the right and looked at his slightly ajar mouth and his rumpled up bed head and couldn't help smiling. All of a sudden he let out a huge gust of breath and I got a good sniff of his morning breath. I gagged silently and turned back to the other side of the bed.

Our apartment was comfortable. To me it felt like home. There were dirty socks scattered around the bedroom floor and I had just bought a new doormat that I was proud of. I'd never felt more like a wife. I liked when Conrad came home from work and put his backpack by the door and kissed me. It made me feel like I was in a 1950's commercial.

But there was only one real home for us. It had sandy floors and an old, worn out lazy boy chair in the livingroom. Susannahs big floppy sun hat remained in the bathroom cupboard. There were the bleached out floorboards on the wrap around porch where we would drink sweet tea and play go fish. And then there was the pool. The pool glowed at night in the backyard and spoke a language that only I could understand. It called to me on those nights when I was antsy and could not fall asleep. My legs itched to stretch and my lungs desired the sweet chlorine smell emanating from the thick water. But most importantly there was the ocean. The rolling waves crashing on the sand and the seagulls chirping, looking for a fresh catch; the moon reflecting off the surface at night. The beach at night was magical. It held things that felt like couldn't happen in real life. As kids we thought we could do anything on that beach at night.

The night I got smashed with tequila, the night Cam refused to skinny dip with me, the night Conrad told me he loved me… This beach held everything.

I jumped out of bed hoping I'd wake Conrad. I changed into a pair of old jeans with a small hole forming a little too close to the crotch area. I was too anxious. I wanted to leave for Cousins Beach right now if I could, but I knew Conrad had a million things to do before we could pack up the car and finally go home.

He woke with a start and I jumped back into the bed, but this time on top of him. He had to get up now or I would go crazy.

"Belly… Five more minutes and then I promise I'll get up," he groaned.

"Nope. You promised me. You said you would wake up at 7:30," I replied back.

"Belly, the beach isn't going anywhere. I promise, just five more minutes," he begged. He dug his head under his pillow.

I huffed, but I got up and went to the kitchen. Our livingroom and kitchen were in one big open room so I had most of the apartment to myself. I shuffled around in the kitchen taking out eggs, milk and a pan. I started to make scrambled eggs when I heard the alarm go off in the bedroom.

I shouted, "C'mon! You said five minutes!" I heard some padding on the carpet so I assumed he was finally up and I continued with breakfast. By the time I was done with the eggs and was finishing up buttering the toast, Conrad was sitting at the breakfast bar with his head in his hands.

"Tired?" I asked.

"Oh, well someone wouldn't let me sleep in this morning would they?" he responded in a joking voice. The thing about Conrad was I could tell he was joking when he said things that would normally be mean. Conrad didn't have a mean bone in his body.

He got up and came around the bar and pulled me into a hug, except I was holding the toast that had just come out of the toaster so I burned my hand and threw the toast onto the counter. I jumped up and down and Conrad looked really sorry. I knew I was being a baby, but it really freaking hurt! Conrad kissed my hand with love and then continued to kiss all of my fingers.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much better. Thank you!" I responded happily and gave him a quick kiss.

Then he got a serious look on his face and then asked, "So, are you ready to go home?" I was so excited that I jumped into his arms excitedly. "I'll take that as a yes then," he replied chuckling.

I had always felt so secure in those arms.


	2. Chapter 2

I rolled all the windows down in the car. I had to, it wouldn't be right if I couldn't smell the salty ocean air. Conrad looked over at me from the driver's seat and smiled at me. He knew all the things I loved about the beach. He knew my favorite radio station, the soft chatter of the tourists as we passed the boardwalk, and the way I held my breath as the beach house came into view for the first time all summer. Conrad knew everything.

When we pulled up the narrow drive to the front of the house, I jumped out as soon as Conrad hit the brake. I walked out to the edge of the beach, stopping just as the waves tickled my toes. A sigh escaped my mouth. It was almost an involuntary response to the way I felt about being back. I had spent every summer here, up until Susannah died, that is. I missed this place like I missed the grass in the winter. It bothered me not being back in so long. I felt like in a way I was letting Susannah down.

How could so much have changed since she died?

Conrad walked up silently behind be and trailed his smooth fingers down the length of my arms, causing goose bumps to raise on my warmed skin. I had almost forgotten he was there. For a moment I was a child again with nothing else important to me but the sand, sun and gentle rolling waves. I saw Steven pulling down Jeremiahs swim shorts in the shallow surf with Conrad laughing hysterically from the shoreline. He had a head full of curls and freckles speckled on his cheeks back then. Back then we were just kids. I picked through some more memories until I reached the one I could never forget.

I was nine and that summer held some of the hottest days of vacation. I had just gotten back from being at the beach all day when I took the towel off my wet shoulders.

"Belly! Look at your back!" my mom screeched at me, her eyes bulging. I turned my head to look, but a searing pain stopped me from turning it any further. A mirror showed me a back so sun burned it looked dead. The skin was lumped in odd formations and was a dark brown leathery color. I had forgotten to put on sunscreen that morning and now I would pay the price. My mother was so worried that she rushed me to the emergency room. I couldn't even sit on the car seat my back hurt so badly. I ended up riding backwards so my back wouldn't have to touch the hot leather.

There were 2nd degree burns on my lower back and upper spine. The doctors had to cut my bathing suit straps because my back was so swollen. All I wanted to do was go home and watch Jeremiah dance like a goof to the music videos on the Disney Channel. I had to get a skin graft on the lower portion of my neck. I was in the hospital for two days and when Susannah and the boys came to visit, I wouldn't let them see me. I felt hideous and was miserable. My crying hadn't stopped since we got to the hospital. Partially because it hurt, but mostly because I just wanted to go home. I couldn't lay on my back and it was so uncomfortable laying on my side all the time. One afternoon I pretended I was napping when my door opened and when I pinched my eye open, I saw Conrad leaving something on my side table. I closed my eye again when he went to leave.

As he left he said, "Feel better soon, Belly". I knew he could tell I wasn't really sleeping. I was never a good fake sleeper. I opened both my eyes after he had closed the door and sitting on my side table was a single red rose. A single piece of perfection when I needed it the most. That was the moment I realized I loved Conrad Fisher.

It was innocence in its purest form.


End file.
